Duyen (pronounced ZWEN) N.

Duyen (pronounced ZWEN) N.

My name is Duyen Nguyen, I was born in Panama City, Florida. I have no kids, animals, and I am currently dating again after 3.5 years of separation and divorce; whoop whoop; the dating scene has definitely changed in the past short 7 years. Gulf Coast State College alumni; I am a dental assistant but at the moment I am a nail technician in the beauty industry. Not extremely exciting but the best is yet to come. I plan on going back to school as soon as my life is a bit more situated. My heart has always been set in healthcare with the elderly and kids.

Before I moved to Houston; I remember watching my roommate come home in pain every day complaining about CrossFit; I said I wouldn’t do it, EVER. Theeennnnnnnnnn I moved to Houston. My sister had been doing CrossFit for about 6 or 7 months and had raved about it ever since she started. 2 weeks after moving here I gained 15 lbs. Bad eating habits, no job, and my sister fed me really well. When I started denying dinners that she’d invited me to at restaurants, she dragged me into AllSport. Clear as day, it was July 3rd of 2013; it was the Houston Fire Department Hero WOD. After that day I waited 2 months to recover before I fully joined the box life.

I’ve been doing CrossFit for about a year and three months. Being a part of AllSport isn’t just about being a part of a box, a group, or some random hour workout class, I really feel the genuine support and the love this box has really shown. It really feels like home; family and I really enjoy it. My arch nemesis? I wouldn’t call them that, I look up to Zerika and Susie. Of course they’ve been in this waayyy longer than I have but strength wise I hope one day I can lift as heavy as they do.

Since I’ve started I’ve lost about 35 pounds, have gone down two dress sizes, and my most impressive gain is my deadlift. I started barely deadlifting 65 pounds if I can remember correctly now, my 1RM deadlift is 240 pounds! I am very proud of myself! If it wasn’t for the support and encouragement of my CrossFit family and sister, it definitely wouldn’t be that heavy! My first kipping pull-up took me somewhere between 9-10 months. Remembering my emotions each day I accomplished something comes right back as I’m writing, its a bit exciting! Even though I could only kip 3 pull-ups at a time, I was stoked to come back the next day and discover our WOD that day consisted of pull-ups and even though both hands tore, I felt as if I was the ‘king of the world’! My best movement might be squatting, I don’t really have a problem “droppin’ it” if you know what I mean. From the top of my head; not boasting rather blank; I’m not sure which movement is my worst. I believe it’s more of all the endurance WODs that get me; I’m nooooottttt necessarily the fittest but one day I will be!

If I was stranded on an island, I would take a 45 pound bar. IF I were to work out on that island, I would be able to do all the lifting I needed AND I could wedge the bar between trees to do pull-ups, toes to bar, and so on. BUT most likely I wouldn’t be doing all of that, the usage of the bar would probably consist of protection and/or a sturdy foundation for shelter.

As of today, I attend about 3-4 days a week; depending on the day and my work schedule I usually attend the 7:15 a.m., 9:15 a.m., or 7 p.m. classes. CrossFit has made me better at receiving critics and support. I’ve always been really bad at taking compliments and encouragement. I guess I’ve always doubted myself, in turn to doing that if I wasn’t confident in myself, how could I possibly be confident in someone else?

If I could write a WOD on the board it would probably go something like this: